Entertainment

‘The Flash’ Recap: Invincible

“Invincible” opens with the CCPD running for cover as metas destroy Central City, turning it into a war zone. Joe fights alongside the CCPD. Iris writes a dramatic news article chronicling the police’s efforts to stop Zoom. She tries to remind them that they are “never alone.” Zoom watches over the city as it is slowly destroyed.

Caitlin returns to the lab, where Henry tends to her as Wells and Jesse watch. Caitlin tells the team that Zoom actually let her go. She feared it was a trap, but she has returned to the lab safely. Barry believes Caitlin’s return has to do with the universe being on their side. Barry has become extremely optimistic ever since his return from the speed force. The team worries that Barry has become overconfident and foolhardy.

That night, Laurel Lance (Arrow‘s Katie Cassidy) uses her super-sonic screeching to destroy Mercury Labs. (Barry and the team discover this later via security camera footage.) Curiously, Laurel died a few episodes earlier on Arrow.

Cisco vibes a dead bird laying at his foot. The lab gets a distress signal from Mercury Labs and Barry races to save its remaining occupants. Barry brings Dr. Christina McGee, an old friend of the team, (Amanda Pays) back to the lab. Barry and the team then catch McGee up on everything that has happened with them, including Earth-2 Wells’ appearance. On the streets, Wally attempts to thwart a robbery. The robber gives chase and turns out to be a meta. Wally nearly meets his end until Joe appears and subdues the meta with a neck brace shock collar. Other cops arrive and carry the

On the streets, Wally nearly dies after he tries to stop a meta robber, until Joe appears and subdues the meta with a neck brace shock collar. Joe yells at Wally for being reckless. Wally says he needs to prove to the Flash that he was worth saving. He blames himself for a lot of things, including leaving his mother to die in the hospital.

Wells walks in on Caitlin running tests on Jesse. Initially, Jesse tries to hide the truth, but she reveals she is running tests to check for dark matter inside her. Wells assures her she is not a meta. Caitlin suddenly has a PTSD-like flash of Zoom.

Henry tries to talk to Barry about his newfound optimism. Barry takes it harshly and thinks he is trying to break his confidence. Barry believes the speed force changed him. He briefly accuses Henry of never being a part of his life. Henry says he has done everything in his power to learn who Barry has become and just wants his son to be careful. Barry assures him he is fine. The team gets a distress signal from the CCPD and Barry races there to confront Zoom.

Zoom and Barry have a showdown. Zoom believes he and Barry are kindred spirits as they both lost their mothers. Zoom does not understand why Barry chose the righteous path. He explains that he felt exhausted playing the good guy as Jay. Zoom taunts Barry by destroying a building next door, knowing Barry won’t let it fall and will thus lose the fight.

Barry tells the team they need to develop some way to stop all the metas at once. So Caitlin, Wells, and Cisco work on a device that channels the vibrations of the Earth-2 metas. Joe asks Barry to talk to Wally. Joe is incredibly worried about his son and does not want him getting hurt. Later, Caitlin has another flash of Zoom and Cisco runs to her aid. Caitlin realizes Zoom took everything from her and she fears she will never be the same person.

On the streets, Barry finds Wally in his car listening in on the police radio frequency. Barry tries to encourage Wally to leave the heroics to the cops, but he is soon called away by another distress signal. Wally follows, not far behind.

Barry encounters Laurel, who turns out to be from Earth-2 and is called Black Siren. She thinks Zoom may actually be afraid of the Flash. That is why he sent so many metas after him. Black Siren screeches at Barry, stunning him, and beats him up badly. Black Siren taunts Barry further but is interrupted when Wally hits her with his car. He grabs the Flash and they escape. On the ride to safety, Barry thanks Wally for saving his life.

Back at the lab, Joe is upset because he thinks Wally is determined to get himself killed. Barry thinks he is just determined to help people. Iris talks to Barry alone. She tells him he is not invincible. Iris believes a little bit of fear can be a good thing. It keeps us grounded.

Black Siren talks with Zoom, who knows she failed to kill the Flash. She is one of his top lieutenants. Zoom orders her to continue knocking down buildings to make the attacks seem random. It will keep the Flash and his team distracted from Zoom’s actual plan.

At the lab, Cisco and Wells finally develop the machine, with a little offscreen help from Hartley Rathaway. All Earth-2 people run at a higher frequency, so they created a dimensional tuning fork. If Barry runs around the city fast enough, he’ll create a refracting field. The device will send out a pulse that will bounce off the field and split apart, colliding with itself repeatedly. This will amplify the frequency so much that it’ll disrupt the Earth-2 humans’ nervous systems and knock all the metas out – including Zoom. Cisco and Wells even created special headphones to protect Jesse and Wells. When the team gets a distress signal locating Black Siren, Cisco develops a plan to distract her long enough for Barry to create the refracting field.

Caitlin and Cisco, dressed as their Earth-2 counterparts Reverb and Killer Frost respectively, intercept Black Siren. Cisco/Reverb encourages Black Siren to join their team against Zoom. He believes they are more powerful than they realize and can bring this world to their knees. Black Siren sees through the disguise, but the trick works long enough for Barry to set up the field. As Caitlin and Cisco flee, Cisco panickedly emits a vibe force push, knocking Black Siren backwards. Caitlin encourages him to do it again, but Cisco doesn’t know how. Luckily the tuning fork activates, causing all of the Earth-2 metas incredible pain. Even Zoom roars in agony. At the lab, Jesse’s headphones malfunction and she hears the frequency. Wells nobly gives his daughter his headphones, protecting her but causing him considerable pain. Wells is knocked unconscious.

The team successfully captures Black Siren and most of the other metas, ending the immediate threat to the city. The team learns via word of mouth thatZoom escaped through a mysterious new breach. Caitlin tells Barry and Cisco that fighting alongside them has given her hope that she will be able to move on one day and be normal.

At the CCPD, which is again controlled by the police, Barry talks to Joe and tells him that he will not be able to talk to Wally because Wally has the same drive to save people that Joe does. Barry thinks Joe should embrace the hero inside of Wally.

The team, including Dr. McGee, get together at Joe’s house for a proper welcoming dinner for Henry. For a moment, the team relaxes and is happy. Cisco suddenly vibes on Earth-2 being split in half. Cisco tells the team he fears he saw into the future – revealing his powers to Wally for the first time. Suddenly, Zoom appears and kidnaps Henry. Barry chases after them. Zoom leads Barry to his childhood home. Zoom wants to make Barry just like him and bring him to the dark side. Zoom once witnessed his father kills his mother; now Zoom wants Barry to feel the same helplessness. Henry reassures Barry how proud he is of him and all of his accomplishments before Zoom kills him.

This episode is incredibly sad due to its final scenes. Barry and the team is never allowed to be happy; they always must be sad. Even though the city was at war, all of the characters were at peace with each other, so someone had to die. What is really sad is now Barry has no biological relatives left. I understand the power play Zoom made, but it was such a heartbreaking moment.

I agree that Zoom is afraid of Barry. Zoom is throwing several things at Barry to distract him and the team because he knows the Flash can stop him. Zoom is desperate and angry. When Zoom becomes angry he goes psychotic and gets petty. His new goal is to destroy the hero inside of Barry. The only way to defeat Barry is to make Barry evil like himself. So, he kills Barry’s father.

I was starting to get worried because both of Barry’s fathers, Henry and Joe, were living in harmony for a few too many episodes for the CW’s taste. The CW loves pulling at the viewers’ heartstrings and killing off loved ones. Unfortunately, killing off important characters left and right becomes too predictable and boring. It is taking the easy way out to create emotion.

What this show does well is create characters the viewers enjoy. I do have to say, Henry Allen was always a joy to watch on the screen. John Weasley Shipp is a terrific actor. I had been fearing for a long time he would die. The show has been building to this, emotionally, from early on this season. Sadly, this was the episode they finally killed him. Henry Allen was a beloved character and he will be missed by more than just the characters on the show.

The return of Laurel Lance/Black Siren was very entertaining. Her turn as a villain was fun to watch because the audience is so used to her being the heroine on Arrow. Before Wally jumped in and saved the day, I have to say Black Siren was beating the crud out of Barry. She probably did the most damage to him in the series, outside of losing his powers. She had him on all fours and was pummeling him until Wally saved the day. Good or bad, Laurel/Black Siren is a force to be reckoned with.

I hope Wally’s new turn as a wannabe hero makes him less whiny. I enjoy his character, but he has been doubling the self-hating/moping factor of the series. I hope that as be trains to be a hero, he will develop his powers and become a new Flash.

I do greatly enjoy Wells being fun again. Now that he has Jesse back he is finally cheery. He and Cisco have formed a somewhat odd-couple-like duo. They comedically bicker and have funny back and forths. If you watch them in the background of most episodes, they share many of the same quirks and have amusing reactions to problems. They are a joy to watch.

The next episode of the series is the season finale. This will be a big one. The finale episode will be huge. At this rate, I am not even sure how they will defeat Zoom. There still seems to be too much distance, both physically and otherwise, between Barry and Zoom. One is good, the other is evil. Barry wins the meta battle, but Zoom has something else up his sleeve. Obviously, Barry will now be extra upset because his father is dead, but I still do not know how the season will tie up. Also, we have seen all of Earth-2 being destroyed which is kind of a big deal. Wells and Jesse may no longer have a home to go back to. The finale is going to have a lot of explaining to do.

“Invincible” opens with the CCPD running for cover as metas destroy Central City, turning it into a war zone. Joe fights alongside the CCPD. Iris writes a dramatic news article chronicling the police’s efforts to stop Zoom. She tries to remind them that they are “never alone.” Zoom watches over the city as it is slowly destroyed.

Caitlin returns to the lab, where Henry tends to her as Wells and Jesse watch. Caitlin tells the team that Zoom actually let her go. She feared it was a trap, but she has returned to the lab safely. Barry believes Caitlin’s return has to do with the universe being on their side. Barry has become extremely optimistic ever since his return from the speed force. The team worries that Barry has become overconfident and foolhardy.

That night, Laurel Lance (Arrow‘s Katie Cassidy) uses her super-sonic screeching to destroy Mercury Labs. (Barry and the team discover this later via security camera footage.) Curiously, Laurel died a few episodes earlier on Arrow.

Cisco vibes a dead bird laying at his foot. The lab gets a distress signal from Mercury Labs and Barry races to save its remaining occupants. Barry brings Dr. Christina McGee, an old friend of the team, (Amanda Pays) back to the lab. Barry and the team then catch McGee up on everything that has happened with them, including Earth-2 Wells’ appearance. On the streets, Wally attempts to thwart a robbery. The robber gives chase and turns out to be a meta. Wally nearly meets his end until Joe appears and subdues the meta with a neck brace shock collar. Other cops arrive and carry the

On the streets, Wally nearly dies after he tries to stop a meta robber, until Joe appears and subdues the meta with a neck brace shock collar. Joe yells at Wally for being reckless. Wally says he needs to prove to the Flash that he was worth saving. He blames himself for a lot of things, including leaving his mother to die in the hospital.

Wells walks in on Caitlin running tests on Jesse. Initially, Jesse tries to hide the truth, but she reveals she is running tests to check for dark matter inside her. Wells assures her she is not a meta. Caitlin suddenly has a PTSD-like flash of Zoom.

Henry tries to talk to Barry about his newfound optimism. Barry takes it harshly and thinks he is trying to break his confidence. Barry believes the speed force changed him. He briefly accuses Henry of never being a part of his life. Henry says he has done everything in his power to learn who Barry has become and just wants his son to be careful. Barry assures him he is fine. The team gets a distress signal from the CCPD and Barry races there to confront Zoom.

Zoom and Barry have a showdown. Zoom believes he and Barry are kindred spirits as they both lost their mothers. Zoom does not understand why Barry chose the righteous path. He explains that he felt exhausted playing the good guy as Jay. Zoom taunts Barry by destroying a building next door, knowing Barry won’t let it fall and will thus lose the fight.

Barry tells the team they need to develop some way to stop all the metas at once. So Caitlin, Wells, and Cisco work on a device that channels the vibrations of the Earth-2 metas. Joe asks Barry to talk to Wally. Joe is incredibly worried about his son and does not want him getting hurt. Later, Caitlin has another flash of Zoom and Cisco runs to her aid. Caitlin realizes Zoom took everything from her and she fears she will never be the same person.

On the streets, Barry finds Wally in his car listening in on the police radio frequency. Barry tries to encourage Wally to leave the heroics to the cops, but he is soon called away by another distress signal. Wally follows, not far behind.

Barry encounters Laurel, who turns out to be from Earth-2 and is called Black Siren. She thinks Zoom may actually be afraid of the Flash. That is why he sent so many metas after him. Black Siren screeches at Barry, stunning him, and beats him up badly. Black Siren taunts Barry further but is interrupted when Wally hits her with his car. He grabs the Flash and they escape. On the ride to safety, Barry thanks Wally for saving his life.

Back at the lab, Joe is upset because he thinks Wally is determined to get himself killed. Barry thinks he is just determined to help people. Iris talks to Barry alone. She tells him he is not invincible. Iris believes a little bit of fear can be a good thing. It keeps us grounded.

Black Siren talks with Zoom, who knows she failed to kill the Flash. She is one of his top lieutenants. Zoom orders her to continue knocking down buildings to make the attacks seem random. It will keep the Flash and his team distracted from Zoom’s actual plan.

At the lab, Cisco and Wells finally develop the machine, with a little offscreen help from Hartley Rathaway. All Earth-2 people run at a higher frequency, so they created a dimensional tuning fork. If Barry runs around the city fast enough, he’ll create a refracting field. The device will send out a pulse that will bounce off the field and split apart, colliding with itself repeatedly. This will amplify the frequency so much that it’ll disrupt the Earth-2 humans’ nervous systems and knock all the metas out – including Zoom. Cisco and Wells even created special headphones to protect Jesse and Wells. When the team gets a distress signal locating Black Siren, Cisco develops a plan to distract her long enough for Barry to create the refracting field.

Caitlin and Cisco, dressed as their Earth-2 counterparts Reverb and Killer Frost respectively, intercept Black Siren. Cisco/Reverb encourages Black Siren to join their team against Zoom. He believes they are more powerful than they realize and can bring this world to their knees. Black Siren sees through the disguise, but the trick works long enough for Barry to set up the field. As Caitlin and Cisco flee, Cisco panickedly emits a vibe force push, knocking Black Siren backwards. Caitlin encourages him to do it again, but Cisco doesn’t know how. Luckily the tuning fork activates, causing all of the Earth-2 metas incredible pain. Even Zoom roars in agony. At the lab, Jesse’s headphones malfunction and she hears the frequency. Wells nobly gives his daughter his headphones, protecting her but causing him considerable pain. Wells is knocked unconscious.

The team successfully captures Black Siren and most of the other metas, ending the immediate threat to the city. The team learns via word of mouth thatZoom escaped through a mysterious new breach. Caitlin tells Barry and Cisco that fighting alongside them has given her hope that she will be able to move on one day and be normal.

At the CCPD, which is again controlled by the police, Barry talks to Joe and tells him that he will not be able to talk to Wally because Wally has the same drive to save people that Joe does. Barry thinks Joe should embrace the hero inside of Wally.

The team, including Dr. McGee, get together at Joe’s house for a proper welcoming dinner for Henry. For a moment, the team relaxes and is happy. Cisco suddenly vibes on Earth-2 being split in half. Cisco tells the team he fears he saw into the future – revealing his powers to Wally for the first time. Suddenly, Zoom appears and kidnaps Henry. Barry chases after them. Zoom leads Barry to his childhood home. Zoom wants to make Barry just like him and bring him to the dark side. Zoom once witnessed his father kills his mother; now Zoom wants Barry to feel the same helplessness. Henry reassures Barry how proud he is of him and all of his accomplishments before Zoom kills him.

This episode is incredibly sad due to its final scenes. Barry and the team is never allowed to be happy; they always must be sad. Even though the city was at war, all of the characters were at peace with each other, so someone had to die. What is really sad is now Barry has no biological relatives left. I understand the power play Zoom made, but it was such a heartbreaking moment.

I agree that Zoom is afraid of Barry. Zoom is throwing several things at Barry to distract him and the team because he knows the Flash can stop him. Zoom is desperate and angry. When Zoom becomes angry he goes psychotic and gets petty. His new goal is to destroy the hero inside of Barry. The only way to defeat Barry is to make Barry evil like himself. So, he kills Barry’s father.

I was starting to get worried because both of Barry’s fathers, Henry and Joe, were living in harmony for a few too many episodes for the CW’s taste. The CW loves pulling at the viewers’ heartstrings and killing off loved ones. Unfortunately, killing off important characters left and right becomes too predictable and boring. It is taking the easy way out to create emotion.

What this show does well is create characters the viewers enjoy. I do have to say, Henry Allen was always a joy to watch on the screen. John Weasley Shipp is a terrific actor. I had been fearing for a long time he would die. The show has been building to this, emotionally, from early on this season. Sadly, this was the episode they finally killed him. Henry Allen was a beloved character and he will be missed by more than just the characters on the show.

The return of Laurel Lance/Black Siren was very entertaining. Her turn as a villain was fun to watch because the audience is so used to her being the heroine on Arrow. Before Wally jumped in and saved the day, I have to say Black Siren was beating the crud out of Barry. She probably did the most damage to him in the series, outside of losing his powers. She had him on all fours and was pummeling him until Wally saved the day. Good or bad, Laurel/Black Siren is a force to be reckoned with.

I hope Wally’s new turn as a wannabe hero makes him less whiny. I enjoy his character, but he has been doubling the self-hating/moping factor of the series. I hope that as be trains to be a hero, he will develop his powers and become a new Flash.

I do greatly enjoy Wells being fun again. Now that he has Jesse back he is finally cheery. He and Cisco have formed a somewhat odd-couple-like duo. They comedically bicker and have funny back and forths. If you watch them in the background of most episodes, they share many of the same quirks and have amusing reactions to problems. They are a joy to watch.

The next episode of the series is the season finale. This will be a big one. The finale episode will be huge. At this rate, I am not even sure how they will defeat Zoom. There still seems to be too much distance, both physically and otherwise, between Barry and Zoom. One is good, the other is evil. Barry wins the meta battle, but Zoom has something else up his sleeve. Obviously, Barry will now be extra upset because his father is dead, but I still do not know how the season will tie up. Also, we have seen all of Earth-2 being destroyed which is kind of a big deal. Wells and Jesse may no longer have a home to go back to. The finale is going to have a lot of explaining to do.